


Fragile Strength

by AllieCrownZJ



Series: Heart of Hallownest (HK story collection) [2]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Or we’ll the lord doesn’t get comfort, Other, child gets comforted, i guess it turned out okay?, local idiot tries to write angst, no beta we die like PK, these girls needed at least a LITTLE bit of characterization, traitor child is dead. but I still love her, zemer is only implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:40:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27906124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllieCrownZJ/pseuds/AllieCrownZJ
Summary: The Lords were strong physically. They were said to be strong emotionally. But, some mantises just made them... fragile.Like their family. Yet, now... just a broken reminder of what had once been.
Relationships: Mantis Lords & Traitor Lord (Hollow Knight), Traitor Lord & Traitor Lord's Daughter (Hollow Knight), Traitor Lord's Daughter/Ze'mer | Grey Mourner
Series: Heart of Hallownest (HK story collection) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2046446
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	Fragile Strength

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Baby’s first HK fic, about her one of her fav bosses, please be gentle

Fallara wasn’t quite sure how it happened. Actually, she had a pretty good idea, however, she wasn’t sure she wanted to believe it. Her own  _ brother _ , falling for the Light’s call. Had he forgotten  _ everything? Everything their culture stood for? _

Their village was much emptier these days.

Lesaria was helping at the village.

Meledia was fighting off the beasts at their doorstep.

Currently, she was the only one in the throne room.

If anyone was to approach, she would be the only one for them to challenge. 

Oh, how much she missed the days when she had her twin for company. 

It was always ‘Mel, the warrior’, ‘Leslie, the empathetic one’, and ‘Kal and Fall, the leaders’.

That’s how mantises closest to them had known them. 

Now, it was more so ‘Mel, the loner’, ‘Leslie, the helper’, ‘Fall, the judge’, and ‘Kal, the traitor’.

After all, she was the one who chose to cast them out. 

Leslie was hesitant. Mel was the first to decide. But the final word went to Fallara. It always did. She was the voice of reason.

It hurt. It truly did. But for the safety of her people, her brother was cast out.

It was for the best. 

The Elder was now somewhere above in the Wastes. When he came, it was her brother to talk to him. He was the one to kill the outsider.

They believed that the problem was solved. 

Oh, how foolish were they.

Falleya, her poor niece, was left alone. Her parents were gone, her lover was away, and the village… well, they were exactly fond of her. 

But she was still family.

Fallara was determined to fulfill her beloved niece’s last wish of being buried in the Garden’s her father had taken up. 

They all knew that the young mantis would die.

It outraged Fallara, that her brother, the child’s  _ father _ , was the one to strike her. Not just any of the traitor’s, but the one from whom the hit must have hurt most. 

She wasn’t present. But it was what drove her to cast them out. She never wanted to see him again. She didn’t care that the illness drove him mad. He willingly accepted it.

The poor mantis was laying on her deathbed. It was only a matter of time. Lesaria was near. She would call for her if something were to happen.

Falleya wanted her there. After all, she was the closest mantis to her. Kai was closer to Fall than his other sisters. It was only natural for his daughter to feel the same way.

‘Fall?’

Ah, Leslie was here. 

‘Yes, sister?’

‘It’s Fallaya… the healers said that she might have a day at best… she says she wants to speak to you once more today… I’ll take watch here. Mel should have dealt with the beasts already. She’s probably finding more as a distraction. Well be okay here.’

Fallara nodded.

‘Very well then.’

She stood up from her throne. With one swift motion, she was scaling up the wall, and leaping up into the more private part of the village.

The mantises moved out of her way, which she was glad for- she wanted to reach her niece as quickly as possible. 

Upon seeing the entrance, she halted. Fallara and her siblings prouder themselves on being able to put their duty before personal needs and emotions, but… that wasn’t going to work now.

She wasn’t used to feeling nervous. Or sad. Or any intense emotion, really. The first time was when seeing her brother so… gone. And now she saw the only remnant of him in a similar state.

‘A-auntie? I-is… a-are you… h-here…?’

Her heart broke a second time. 

‘Yes Fay. It’s me.’

Fallara used the nickname the smaller mantis had taken up as just a grub. 

‘A-a… p-ple-please… c-come…’

Fallaya tried to say something, but it came out as just a weak groan.

Fall stepped to her bedside, the healer stepping away to give his lord space. 

‘Shh… don’t exhaust yourself…’

Fay nodded in agreement. 

‘Oh, my sweet little warrior… rest. It will all be over soon. Would you like me to tell you of the resting place we have picked out for you?’

Fall tried her best to give her warrior some comfort in her last moments. 

‘Yes… w-would b-be…. n-nice….’

‘We have picked a place in the heart of the gardens… quite a beautiful open area. Protected by thorns… we do not want your rest to be disturbed… close to your father, too…’

Fallara described. She had been there once, and it was enough for her to settle on it.

‘S-sounds… n-nice… c-can’t… w-wait to s-see…’

The young mantis smiled contently.

‘It will all be over soon, my little warrior.’

‘A-auntie…?’

‘Yes?’

‘W-will… y-you s-stay w-with m-me?’

‘Until the end.’

  
  
  
  


Fallara stepped outside. It was over. Her sweet little warrior was gone. They were preparing her for the trip to the Gardens. Fall and her sisters were to lead. A few other mantises were to come with. 

She had one more thing to do before that, however. She couldn’t let herself get distracted with emotions. 

Planning her route in her head, she made a quick stop to announce their niece’s passing to her sisters. They took it as well as she’d expected. That is to say, they showed no reaction, other than bowing their heads in respect. 

Fallara told them of where she was going. She wouldn’t take longer than a day. She will be back to escort Falleya to the gardens. 

She hadn’t been to the higher levels of Hallownest. Their tribe stayed mostly in the Fungal Wastes, occasionally leaving in the direction of Fog Canyon. She had never been to the Crossroads.

But Fall knew the way. Falleya had told her many times.

She just had to find the village.

No problem, it wasn’t very far. There was a shortcut above the house farthest away… yes, right where she had expected it to be. 

Crawling through, she found her biggest problem. A giant lake.

It wasn’t acid, as she was used to. Yet… she still felt uncomfortable at the thought of walking through it. The water didn’t seem to reach past her waist, but she didn’t want to test it. She gazed around the cavern. One of the walls was rather close. She could easily scale that.

It took her only a few minutes. Landing elegantly on the sand, she let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding in. However, now wasn’t the time. She broke into a run, impaling any infected husks that dared cross her path.

The catacombs were rather small. Her larger-than-average body had a little trouble fitting inside, but she managed. 

Seeing light above her, she climbed up. There stood a little house in a clearing. She didn’t want to deliver this message, but knew she was the best (if only) option.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who didn’t understand some things: Traitor Lord (infected) stabbed his daughter, not that it would immediately kill her, the infection mixed with the wound would end her life.  
> The Child is named after her aunt.  
> Lord’s names are (from oldest to youngest)
> 
> Meledia  
> Fallara  
> Kailar  
> Lesaria  
> (Throne order- Lesie, Mel, Fall, Kai)  
> That’s it I think, I hope you enjoyed reading :3


End file.
